Joint statement from BVA and BSAVA on Covid-19 guidance

17 April 2020

The British Veterinary Association (BVA) and British Small Animal Veterinary Association (BSAVA) are committed to supporting one another and working together to provide leadership that benefits the veterinary profession as it navigates these very difficult and uncertain times.

Our organisations both have small teams working at pace and under pressure. Over the last few days there has clearly been some misunderstanding in our communications with one another and we regret that this has caused confusion amongst our members.

Consultation on BVA’s updated guidance took place with BSAVA and other key veterinary organisations. However, due to the extraordinary times we are in and the time constraints we are working under, this was not the same level of involved and comprehensive consultation that would normally take place between BVA and BSAVA and there was perhaps a resulting mismatch in expectations from both parties.

After further clarification from BVA that their updated Guidance should be read in conjunction with the RCVS Guidance, BSAVA broadly supports the document, and its objective is to provide practical help for practitioners to manage cases over the coming weeks. To this end BSAVA is urgently developing evidenced based supporting guidance and tools. This is the same approach that BSAVA took to the initial BVA guidance.

We recognise that all veterinary surgeons and nurses are working under huge pressure at the moment and, along with our colleagues in other veterinary associations, we aim to support the veterinary professions in the best ways we all can.

For more information and resources on COVID-19, see our dedicated webpages here.